Whatever you came here for, you won't get what you want from me. The Queen looked into his eyes and said, "Go back, and I'll pretend that nothing happened today."
Orm wasn't about to give up easily. When he realized the benefits of the Amazon Tribe were even greater than he imagined, he wouldn't bother calculating the risks of offending such a group, but rather, full of greed, he wanted to take a bite out of them.
"Queen, your warriors injured my men. Are you trying to provoke Atlantis?!"
"Do you represent Atlantis?" The Queen was in no hurry. She turned to go back, sat in her seat, and then said, "If I remember correctly, you haven't ascended the throne yet. Even a King of Atlantis recognized by the Seven Seas wouldn't speak to me like that."
Orm was somewhat intimidated by the Queen. He did not understand where the Queen got her confidence. But since he had come this far, there was no way he was going to give up, so he said, "Atlantis has only me as an heir; I am the future King of Atlantis. Your subordinates have been so rude to me, you must give me an explanation, right?"
"What explanation do you want?"
"Where is the golden trident?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," the Queen said. "The Amazon and Atlantis indeed had some intersection, but that was a few thousand years ago. We have no intention of having a conflict with the Sea Clan, but you'd better not think of us as a pushover. Qina, see the guest out!"
Orm's face darkened, just about to explode, when the female warrior beside him stepped forward, forcing them out of the palace with her spear. This place was on land, not conducive to their abilities, and Orm could only leave in disgrace.
After he left, the Amazon Queen's face sank. She said, "He's really out of sorts, remind everyone to be on high alert, don't let him find an opening."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, these people can't beat us."
The Queen shook her head and said, "That's only because we're on land now. If we were at sea, it would be a different story."
"Are they really that strong?" one of the female officials asked.
"The ocean is the domain of the Atlanteans. Our warriors are strong and brave, but in the sea, they can't compete with them. In any case, be extra cautious."
Back in the sea, Orm roared as if he were mad. He had never been humiliated like this, he must show these damned women a lesson.
Orm blamed his failure on not understanding the opponent's background and rashly going ashore, thus getting caught by the female warrior. They indeed weren't adept at fighting on land and the effects of Water Magic were way too limited.
However, Amazon after all is a Mediterranean country. As long as it's the ocean, it's undoubtedly the Atlanteans' turf. He must reclaim this ground.
However, they're still a bit too understaffed now, making things inconvenient. At least they must first conquer one of the Seven Ocean Tribes to have enough manpower to get things done.
Orm had already made plans, he immediately turned and swam toward another sea area.
Almost at the same time, Arthur and Mera also arrived at Amazon, but they came via the formal entry process. Amazon's tourism is quite developed and grants visa-free access to America, so Arthur directly took his American passport and flew over, while Mera used Magic to become invisible, experiencing flying for the first time.
After getting off the plane, Mera was still feeling a bit dizzy, coupled with the stronger sunlight in the Mediterranean country, she was almost melted by the sun. Turning her head, Arthur quickly put a hat on her and then gave her sunglasses.
"Put these on first, I'll take you to a clothing store. Our town doesn't have nice clothes, you can't meet the Queen just wearing this; it's too disrespectful."
Mera was a bit surprised, looked at Arthur, and said, "How do you know about these things?"
Arthur looked at her a bit confused and said, "How could I not know? Isn't this common sense?"
"What common sense? This is the kind of knowledge that only royalty would learn. You've never been to Atlantis, how do you know these things?"
Arthur was helpless, and said, "You don't think humans are savages, do you? When it comes to etiquette and rules, America is quite good, it's the old Europe that's troublesome."
Mera pouted. She indeed didn't understand much about Human Society. Arthur merely said, "Don't assume I was born in a small town, I also lived in big cities. There's a huge aquarium there, I can talk to fish..."
"Aquarium? But isn't the ocean right next to your home? Why need a dedicated museum?"
"Near my home, it's cold water ocean, but there are all kinds of marine life in the museum, with various tropical fish and even sharks. When I was a child, I loved going to the aquarium; they couldn't understand what the fish were saying; only I could." Arthur smiled at her.
"That's wonderful," Mera said. "Your father must really love you."
"Yes, during the off-fishing season, he would go work in the big city and take me along. Although we could only live in the basement at that time, always wearing old clothes and eating sandwiches, those were my happiest days."
"And it was during that time that I gradually learned how human society operates. My dad applied for a lighting engineer position, but he didn't succeed because they thought he dressed too shabbily and didn't look serious enough. I got along well with the kids on our street, but if I left the neighborhood, everyone else looked at me like I was a piece of dog poop."
"Because you didn't dress well, right?" Mera thought for a moment and said.
Arthur nodded and said, "Yes, from that time I understood that if you want others to respect you and listen to you, you must first package yourself properly. I've booked a room at the hotel next door; after we buy clothes, we'll change and then figure out how to find the Queen."
Mera nodded, but then hesitated and said, "Buying things costs money in the human world, right? Do you have money?"
"I don't have any now," Arthur spread his hands carelessly and said, "but isn't someone asking us for help?"
After saying that, he stopped in front of a store, took out his phone, dialed a number, and said, "Hello, A.R.G.U.S.? It's me, Arthur. We're on our way to find the golden trident, but you know we need some operational funds..."
Even though they couldn't see it on the other end, Arthur still rubbed his fingers lightly, making a money gesture, and said, "I think you also know that inflation in Europe is quite severe recently..."
In less than a minute, Arthur saw an eight-digit sum in US dollars credited to his account, his ten fingers trembling with excitement.
Meanwhile, the agents standing behind Shiller started trembling too. Shiller, however, remained unruffled and said, "You can't catch a wolf without risking something. Our usual expenses are just some phone bills. If we don't use the big budget we've saved up now, are we going to wait to use it as severance?"
The agent had no choice but to admit he was right. Now money wasn't the big problem; if spending a few billion could move the Capitol Building back, the President would dip into his own pocket to do it. After all, the calls for another vote were getting louder, and the President had almost no hair left from the stress.
Mera, a little curious, leaned over to look at Arthur's phone screen, but she could only speak English and didn't recognize the letters, so she asked, "How much did they give you? Is it enough? If not, I still have some jewelry..."
Arthur held up one hand to stop her and then said, "Come with me."
The two of them turned around, leaving the entrance of the clothing mall, and headed straight for the luxury car dealership. Ten minutes later, a striking, flamboyant Lamborghini drove out. Arthur drove directly to a street full of luxury shops and pushed Mera inside one of the entrances.
Mera looked around the human world luxury store, still somewhat curious. Although it wasn't that much more luxurious than Atlantis, it was brighter on land than in the sea, making the luxury jewelry appear even more dazzling, and the Sea Clan loved shiny things.
However, she was restrained and intentionally slowed her pace, shoulder to shoulder with Arthur, and then quietly asked, "Can I pick a few items?"
"You can have as many as you want, if the money runs out, I'll ask for more."
Mera immediately understood. She boldly walked up to the jewelry counter, glanced over it, and said, "This one, this one, and this one, don't wrap those. Pack up the rest for me."
Then they went to the clothing store. Mera adjusted the gigantic jewel necklace hanging around her neck, tilted her head, and walked in. The store staff greeted her with smiles, and Mera said, "Could you please help me pick an evening gown? I have an important guest to see tomorrow... Yes, it's a royal banquet, I might even have a few words with the Queen."
The store staff didn't just look at the car and the jewelry's value; more importantly, Arthur and Mera didn't have the typical appearance of ordinary people. The Sea Clan naturally had good physiques and attractive looks, not to mention their hair—a significant indicator of wealth. Arthur had thick hair and a beard, and Mera's red hair was so well-maintained it seemed like it required at least three hours of care every day to keep it smooth.
These were markers of the wealthy. The staff at the luxury store had sharp eyes and brought out all kinds of beautiful gowns for Mera to try. With her great figure, nothing looked bad on her, and she eventually had them all packed up.
Even the quirky clothes that had been gathering dust for years looked like high fashion on Mera. Arthur didn't care about anything except signing off; whenever they needed more money, he asked for it, and whatever amount they requested, the other side would provide. How could they not take advantage?
Once Mera finished selecting and packed everything into the car, Arthur also ordered a suit. Of course, it was the kind that was very noble—mainly because it was expensive—the custom Italian suit was perfect for his tall build and wild hairstyle.
Custom suits weren't made quickly, so they spent a few more days playing around in the Amazon, letting everyone in the city know that a super-rich couple from America was attending a royal banquet. Even the Queen heard about it.
The Queen was puzzled; who said there was going to be a banquet? But looking at the soaring sales figures, she couldn't say anything against it. Even if it's just for these rich patrons, the banquet had to be held.
So, a few nights later, Arthur and Mera, dressed as if they were ready to ascend the throne, appeared in the Amazon Queen's palace. Upon seeing them enter the palace, the Queen instantly recognized the two as Atlanteans and was immediately disinclined to engage with Atlanteans, especially suspecting the Sea Clan of having ulterior motives.
However, seeing the two of them in such formal attire, adorned with dazzling jewels and immaculately groomed from head to toe, thinking of the tax revenue they would bring to the Amazon, the Queen could only sigh, holding her wine glass as she approached to exchange pleasantries.